The Barbados Royals remain anchored at the bottom of the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League table after falling to the Guyana Amazon Warriors at Kensington Oval on Thursday evening. The fixture marked the first of five matches scheduled at the venue for the Bajan leg of this year’s tournament.
Put into bat first by the Warriors, the Royals struggled early on. The visitors justified their decision with a series of economical overs and regular breakthroughs, reducing the Men in Pink to 71 for 5. A crucial sixth-wicket partnership between captain Rovman Powell and Rassie van der Dussen, worth 82 runs, lifted the Royals to a respectable 165 for 6 by the end of their innings. Powell reached his half-century off just 28 balls.
With the ball, the Royals started strong, claiming the wickets of Ben McDermott, Moeen Ali, and Shimron Hetmyer—all within the powerplay. The Warriors were reeling at 30 for 4 before a massive 89-run stand between Dwaine Pretorius and Barbadian Shai Hope reignited their chase. A quick-fire 33 from Queentin Sampson sealed the deal, as the visitors crossed the finish line in the final over—winning by four wickets with two balls to spare. Eathan Bosch finished as the pick of the bowlers, bagging 3 wickets for 35 runs off his overs.
Despite the loss, captain Rovman Powell remains optimistic. Speaking after the match, he said:
“From a batting standpoint, we lost wickets at a crucial stage of the game. I think we finished well as a group, but at the start of the second innings, I felt as if we were 10 or 15 runs short. We just have to give confidence to the guys. They are world-class players. It’s just for them to get one or two more shots in the Power Play. If we can get one or two more boundaries, that’s 50–55 for one. We still have a good amount of games left, and it’s just for the guys to take confidence from how we performed tonight and see how we can string some wins together.”
There’s little time for licking wounds. The Royals return to action on Friday evening at the same venue, where they’ll face the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons and attempt to secure their first win of the CPL season.
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